Network, Get Answers, Find Members in Your Area, and More!

1st sales today at local art fair now what?

I sold my 1st tshirts today at a local craft fair. Plus some shell belts and wool caps/berets. (my website is still being coded and coded...).

I did charge our florida state sales tax of 6%. I only had a handwritten rcpt. Do I now enter these sales into my quickbooks pro 2007?.. I know my inventory needs to be updated. Next thing is to deposit the checks and cash into my business banking account on Monday. and update my quicken bank account details. Is the handwritten rrcpt enuf for my tax guy?

I can hear the laughing now, but this is how tired and lost I feel right now. I am hoping others can benefit from my `startup business stupid questions` Ha Ha.

i just called my QB pro advisor again to schedule a long day on Thursday for more help..this way the twins are in preschool. and i can really concentrate and take notes I realized I have not been inputting my vendor invoices for the blank tshirts, nor the screenprinting cost, nor the packaging cost for each organza bag etc. GEE this is kinda important huh? Everything is in my QB section for American Express account and my business checking account. that is all balanced and up to date. it is the product and inventory section that is throwing me. (that dang ol` inventory again)

AND the items I sold this past Saturday were `on sale` and will not be priced the same as the retail cost on the website. So how the heck do I show items sold, but with a different price...I am sure this can be done. I just need to go to B&N and purchase Quickbooks Pro for dummies. I will do that tonite and maybe save some money on my friends hourly cost.

Thank you Doug. I have been trying to figure out which slips/invoices etc. to save, packing slips, invoices, email verifications for shipments etc. etc. It just seemed like so much redundancy, which in the techie field is a no, no -so this paper accounting environment is killing and confusing me.

This makes sense now. I need to now go back and organize all of my previous invoices/packing slips.

using Excel is a great idea...I love Excel and use it for personal organization also. I am trying sooo hard not to have redundant data. (inventor in excel and quickbooks) I did input my inventory in quickbooks and so far so good. But I have not launched my site. Once I do the inventory control may throw me for a loop! At that time I will be back on SUN asking for more advice.

As a new business owner with new accounting software, you need to make some fundamental choices about how routine transactions are going to be entered into Quickbooks. A sale of any kind is a routine transaction and hopefully you`ll be entering hundreds of them in the future, so getting it "right" from the start is the best thing.

You don`t want to waste your money paying your accountant to correct a lot of errors in Quickbooks because you didn`t understand how they need to be entered. This is where you need to consult with a Quickbooks Pro Advisor and set up procedures for entering transactions in Quickbooks. Quickbooks Advisors can be found through the Quickbooks web site and I`m sure there are a few located near you who could help you.

The sale obviously needs to be entered into Quickbooks. You`re required by law to record all revenues, taxable and non-taxable. The question is how to do it.

The handwritten receipt will have to suffice because that`s all you have but you should get a sales receipt book that makes carbon copies so you have a permanent record of each sale. Get one that is sequentially numbered so you can refer to that receipt number when you enter the transaction in QB. Sales receipt books are easily available at an office supply store or you can get nicer ones from a commercial printer with your company information at the top of the form.

Since I`m no longer in the accounting business and I`m not familiar with how you have your QB set up I can`t give you any better advice than that. Your question is a common one and you shouldn`t worry about "stupid startup questions". The only stupid questions are the ones you fail to ask, so ask away!

Entering your invoices is important but there are some other things you should do first.

Number one - get in the habit of using the Purchase Order function in QB. Everytime you order something, enter a Purchase Order and print it. Fax it to the vendor along with any drawings or specifications. Save the printed copy in your file drawer for that vendor. This will hopefully alleviate any misunderstandings about what you ordered, the quantity, and the price.

Number two - when the shipment arrives, check it to make sure it conforms to your purchase order. Check items on the packing slip and compare them to the PO. SAVE the packing slip!! Receive the items into your inventory in QB so you have accurate inventory count. If you don`t do this will get "out of stock" error messages when you have stock sitting on the shelf.

Number three - when the invoice arrives, enter it into QB. It should match to the items received and the price on the PO.

This is what we call a Three-Way Match between the PO, the packing slip, and the invoice. Staple them together and put them in a file of invoices to be paid. When pay the invoice, attach one of the remittance advices to the stapled PO, pack slip, and invoice. Note: This is why you should order 3-part checks. It is also makes it easy to tell which check paid which invoice.

You`re doing good with keeping the bank account and AMEX account reconciled. Be sure you keep doing that every month. I can tell you from long experience that if you can`t get the cash to work in an accounting system nothing else in it will work.

The "on sale" merchandise you sold at the craft fair is no problem. The reduction gets recorded as a "sales discount" to the regular price when you enter the sale. The sales discount will appear as a reduction to your gross sales on the income statement.

Dianne that is AWESOME!! You are on your way! I`m soooo muttling through QuickBooks myself. I have someone coming in to help me straighten up my mess on Friday

---Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms

The only time I charge sales tax if when someone from SC buys some and it is delivered w/i the state (as that`s where I am located) I don`t know the rules for other states.

---Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
Grill Charms™… The MUST HAVE grilling accessory that is revolutionizing the American Cook-out AND The perfect gift for any occasion!
Grill Charms

You may want to consider keeping your inventory in a spreadsheet in Excel and transfering the information quarterly or at year end into Quickbooks. I know Quickbooks works well for some people, but truthfully my clients have found it less expensive to keep inventory in Excel. (they don`t have to pay me to track it.) Doug`s advice is excellent for establishing a tracking system if you want to keep running everything through Quickbooks.

I`m not 100% positive about this, but just for simplicity`s sake, I would enter the receipts into Quickbooks if you want everything all in one place. It might be a pain, but this way your inventory will be automatically be adjusted accordingly and you can print accurate reports from Quickbooks for your accountant.

Like we`ve discussed before, it`s all this backend stuff that gives me a headache!